# Sigurd Ibsen

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Norwegian writer, lawyer and statesman

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Sigurd Ibsen OB Prime Minister of Norway in Stockholm In office 22 October 1903 – 11 March 1905 Monarch Oscar II Prime Minister Francis Hagerup Preceded by Ole Anton Qvam Succeeded by Jørgen Løvland Personal details Born (1859-12-23)23 December 1859 Christiania, Sweden-Norway Died 14 April 1930(1930-04-14) (aged 70) Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany Party Liberal Spouse Bergliot Bjørnson Children Tancred Ibsen Irene Ibsen Bille Eleonora Borberg Parent(s) Suzannah Thoresen (mother) Henrik Ibsen (father) Relatives Joen Bille (grandson)

Drawing of Sigurd Ibsen

**Sigurd Ibsen** (23 December 1859 – 14 April 1930) was a [Norwegian](/source/Norway) writer, lawyer and statesman, who served as the [prime minister of Norway in Stockholm](/source/Prime_minister_of_Norway_in_Stockholm) (1903–1905) and played a central role in the [dissolution](/source/Norway_in_1905) of the [union](/source/Sweden-Norway) between Norway and [Sweden](/source/Sweden) in 1905.

## Early life

Ibsen was born in [Christiania](/source/Oslo) (now called Oslo), but grew up mostly in Germany and Italy. Being the only child of playwright [Henrik Ibsen](/source/Henrik_Ibsen) and his wife [Suzannah Thoresen](/source/Suzannah_Thoresen), he struggled all his life to meet his family's high expectations.

Ibsen developed 'remarkably early',[*[according to whom?](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style/Words_to_watch#Unsupported_attributions)*] being able to read at the age of four and was fluent in Norwegian, German and Italian. Growing up however, Ibsen struggled to find friends who were Norwegian and his age, further complicated by the fact that his family was often deep in [penury](/source/Extreme_poverty), and thus he appeared throughout his life to be impersonal to others who did not know him. He excelled in academics however, aiming to please both his parents and himself, and subsequently came top in his class for every subject including mathematics, which appears to have been a weak point of his.

## Adulthood

After passing his matriculation exams, Ibsen received a [doctorate](/source/Doctorate) in law at the [Sapienza University of Rome](/source/Sapienza_University_of_Rome) in 1882. He founded a magazine, *[Ringeren](/source/Ringeren)*, in which he published articles about the changing roles of monarchy and [republicanism](/source/Republicanism).[1]

Later, he was appointed to the position of Prime Minister of Stockholm and Norway at his father's behest so that he would remain a Norwegian citizen.

## Prime Minister in Stockholm

From 1903 to 1905, Sigurd Ibsen served as [Prime Minister of Norway in Stockholm](/source/Prime_Minister_of_Norway_in_Stockholm) (i.e., the leader of the Norwegian delegation to the King of [Sweden](/source/Sweden) and [Norway](/source/Norway) and the second highest [cabinet](/source/Cabinet_of_Norway) position).[2] During his term, [George Francis Hagerup](/source/George_Francis_Hagerup) was Prime Minister in Christiania. Sigurd Ibsen played a central role in the [dissolution](/source/Norway_in_1905) of the [union](/source/Sweden-Norway) between Norway and [Sweden](/source/Sweden) in 1905, being credited with having introduced the idea. He is also regarded as important in convincing influential Norwegians supporting a [republican](/source/Republic) government, like [Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson](/source/Bj%C3%B8rnstjerne_Bj%C3%B8rnson), [Arne Garborg](/source/Arne_Garborg) and [Fridtjof Nansen](/source/Fridtjof_Nansen), to turn and instead support a [monarchy](/source/Monarchy). To his colleagues, Ibsen was an outspoken Norwegian patriot who was to be avoided, though his ideas succeeded in the end.

## Marriage and children

Some time in the late 19th century, Ibsen travelled to Aulestad to personally thank his father's old friend: author [Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson](/source/Bj%C3%B8rnstjerne_Bj%C3%B8rnson) for his political support, and he thus met Bjornson's family for the first time. Bjornson's daughter [Bergliot](/source/Bergliot_Ibsen) remarks that she and her siblings were very excited to see Ibsen for he had been 'written and talked about so much'. Though she writes that she personally 'did not altogether like him' at first since he appeared to be 'too serious' and was 'mostly talking to Father', although she reveals that one day she was on the lower veranda of the house when Ibsen was on the upper one. Suddenly he looked down and smiled at her with 'his beautiful eyes', and it appears to be this moment at which Bergliot fell in love with him as she describes, though Ibsen himself does not mention the event himself in any surviving letters or works by him.

His father, Henrik Ibsen did not initially approve of their engagement as he felt he should have known first (even going so far as to publicly deny his son's engagement and subsequently angering both his son and Bjornson), though he finally accepted it and Sigurd and Bergliot married on 11 October 1892.

The Ibsens had three children. Their son, [Tancred Ibsen](/source/Tancred_Ibsen), became a well-known film director and their daughter, [Irene Ibsen Bille](/source/Irene_Ibsen_Bille), was married to Josias Bille, a member of the Danish ancient noble Bille family. Irene and Josias's sons and Sigurd and Bergliot's grandsons were Danish manager Anders Steensen Bille and Danish actor [Joen Bille](/source/Joen_Bille). Sigurd and Bergliot also had another daughter: Eleonora, who married Danish author [Svend Borberg](/source/Svend_Borberg) and had three children.

## Death

Towards the end of his life, Sigurd Ibsen was said to be constantly in a low state of mind (a trait which seems to have been passed on to his daughter Eleonora), and lived 'in his own world',[*[according to whom?](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style/Words_to_watch#Unsupported_attributions)*] though he was at times lively and even slightly flirtatious as he had always been. None of his family noticed that he was seriously ill from what was actually [cancer](/source/Cancer) as he still had very good movement although, his wife mentions that he had to suddenly speak in a hoarse whisper. After a medical operation that was made on his throat, his final days were mostly spent unconscious, he died on 14 April 1930.

Sigurd Ibsen is buried in the [Cemetery of Our Saviour](/source/Cemetery_of_Our_Saviour), in Oslo, Norway.[3]

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Terje I. Leiren (February 1986). ["The Role of Kingship in the Monarchist-Republican Debate in Norway, 1905"](https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6563.1986.tb00694.x). *The Historian*. **48** (2): 270. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1111/j.1540-6563.1986.tb00694.x](https://doi.org/10.1111%2Fj.1540-6563.1986.tb00694.x).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** regjeringen.no (2012-04-10). ["Sigurd Ibsen"](https://www.regjeringen.no/en/the-government/previous-governments/historiske-artikler/offices/norwegian-prime-minister-in-stockholm-18/sigurd-ibsen/id440583/). *Government.no*. Retrieved 2024-06-22.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Dørum, Knut, ed. (1 November 2019). ["Sigurd Ibsen"](https://snl.no/Sigurd_Ibsen). *[Store norske leksikon](/source/Store_norske_leksikon)* (in Norwegian Bokmål). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20200714194828/https://snl.no/Sigurd_Ibsen) from the original on 14 July 2020.

## Literature

- [Langslet, Lars Roar](/source/Lars_Roar_Langslet). *Sønnen*. Cappelen, 2004 [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [82-02-22101-3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/82-02-22101-3)

- Steine, Bjørn Arne. *Sigurd Ibsen : nasjon, politikk og kultur*. [Voksenåsen AS](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Voksen%C3%A5sen_Kultur-_og_konferansehotell&action=edit&redlink=1), 2005 [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [82-90617-34-8](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/82-90617-34-8)

- [Rudeng, Erik](/source/Erik_Rudeng) (1994) “En statsmann i reserve”, *Nytt norsk tidsskrift* 11 (3-4): 266–280.

- Ibsen, Sigurd. *Bak en gyllen fasade, Sigurd Ibsens brev til familien 1883-1929*. Aschehoug, 1997. ([Thorleif Dahls Kulturbibliotek](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Thorleif_Dahls_Kulturbibliotek&action=edit&redlink=1)) [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [82-03-26141-8](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/82-03-26141-8)

- Ibsen, Sigurd. *Videnskab og mystik og andre essays*. Grøndahl Dreyer, 1992. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [82-504-1920-0](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/82-504-1920-0)

- Ibsen, Sigurd. *Unionen*. 1887

- [Nabo.nb.no](http://nabo.nb.no/bok?_b=sambok&pf=Ibsen%2C+Sigurd)

- Ibsen, Bergliot. *The Three Ibsens, Memories of Henrik Ibsen, Suzannah Ibsen and Sigurd Ibsen.* New York, American-Scandinavian Foundation, 1952. [ISBN unspecified]

## External links

- [Works by Sigurd Ibsen](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/25986) at [Project Gutenberg](/source/Project_Gutenberg)

- [Works by or about Sigurd Ibsen](https://archive.org/search.php?query=%28%28subject%3A%22Ibsen%2C%20Sigurd%22%20OR%20subject%3A%22Sigurd%20Ibsen%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Ibsen%2C%20Sigurd%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Sigurd%20Ibsen%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Ibsen%2C%20S%2E%22%20OR%20title%3A%22Sigurd%20Ibsen%22%20OR%20description%3A%22Ibsen%2C%20Sigurd%22%20OR%20description%3A%22Sigurd%20Ibsen%22%29%20OR%20%28%221859-1930%22%20AND%20Ibsen%29%29%20AND%20%28-mediatype:software%29) at the [Internet Archive](/source/Internet_Archive)

v t e Henrik Ibsen's family Ancestors and birth relatives Grandparents Henrich Ibsen, Johanne Plesner, Johan Andreas Altenburg, Hedevig Paus, Ole Paus (step grandfather), parents Knud Ibsen and Marichen Altenburg, sister Hedvig Ibsen, uncles Christian Cornelius Paus, Henrik Johan Paus, Christopher Blom Paus, great-aunt Kristine Cathrine Ploug (née Altenburg), first cousin Ole Paus, nephew Carl Stousland, first cousin once removed Christopher de Paus, great-grandfather Cornelius Paus Wife, family-in-law and issue Wife Suzannah Ibsen (née Thoresen), step mother-in-law Magdalene Thoresen, son Sigurd Ibsen, daughter-in-law Bergliot Ibsen (née Bjørnson), grandson Tancred Ibsen, granddaughter Irene Ibsen Bille (née Ibsen), grandson's wife Lillebil Ibsen (née Krohn), great-grandsons Tancred Ibsen Jr. and Joen Bille, great-great-granddaughters Nora Ibsen and Beate Bille See also: Ibsen family – Paus family

v t e Paus family Early members Sir Hans Olufsson (ca. 1500), cleric Sir Hans Povelsson Paus the Elder (1587), cleric Sir Peder Povelsson Paus (1590), cleric Sir Povel Hansson Paus (1620), cleric Sir Povel Pedersson Paus (1625), cleric Sir Hans Povelsson Paus (1656), cleric Cornelius Povelsson Paus (1662), judge Peder Hansson Paus (1691), judge Hans Pedersson Paus (1721), judge Skien branch Cornelius Paus (1726), civil servant Hedevig Paus (1763) Ole Paus (1766), shipowner Henrik Johan Paus (1799), lawyer Christian Cornelius Paus (1800), governor Christopher Blom Paus (1810), shipowner Henrik Ibsen (1828), playwright Johan Altenborg Paus (1834), war commissioner Ole Paus (1846), industrialist Karl L. Paus (1856), industrialist Christopher Lintrup Paus CBE (1881), British diplomat Thorleif (von) Paus (1881), diplomat George Wegner Paus (1882), lawyer Hans Wangensten Paus (1891), engineer Robert Paus Platt OBE (1905), British diplomat Helvig (von) Paus (1909) Ole (von) Paus (1910), general Per Paus (1910), industrialist Thorleif Lintrup Paus (1912), diplomat Cecilie Paus (1943), shipping magnate Peder Paus (1945), businessman Ole Paus (1947), singer Pontine Paus (1973), shipping heir Olympia Paus (1976), shipping heir Marcus Paus (1979), composer of Herresta Count Christopher (de) Paus (1862), philanthropist Herman Paus (1897), skier, estate owner Countess Tatiana Tolstoy-Paus (1914) Henrik Ibsen Knud Ibsen Marichen Altenburg Sigurd Ibsen Altenburggården The Ibsen Family Paus family in fiction Peer Gynt Rosmersholm The Wild Duck Ghosts An Enemy of the People Hedda Gabler Drammen branch Bernhard Cathrinus Pauss (1839), theologian Henriette Pauss (1841), teacher Olav Pauss (1863), shipowner Nikolai Nissen Paus (1877), surgeon/humanitarian Augustin Paus (1881), industrialist Bernhard Paus (1910), surgeon/humanitarian Vilhelm Paus (1915), diplomat Brita Collett Paus (1917), humanitarian Nikolai Paus (1944), businessman Other Pauspur Paus collection (Paus Trajan) Herresta Kvesarum Castle Villa Paus Esviken Paus & Paus Ole Paus Company Wilh. Wilhelmsen

Authority control databases International ISNI VIAF GND FAST WorldCat National United States France BnF data Italy Netherlands Norway Sweden Poland Israel People Deutsche Biographie DDB Other IdRef Open Library SNAC Yale LUX

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Sigurd Ibsen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigurd_Ibsen) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigurd_Ibsen?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.